Ayron Jones Backstage at MMRBQ 2023
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00:00All right, it's Brent Porsche for 93.3 WMMR.
00:03We're at the 2023 MM BBQ.
00:05Along with Sarah, we're backstage.
00:07And we welcome from the Puget Sound, my man, Aaron Jones.
00:11What's up?
00:12The crowd goes wild.
00:14Now, Aaron, last time we hung out was a little bit earlier this year.
00:18You probably don't remember.
00:19We were on a big boat in the middle of the ocean for Shiprocked.
00:22Yes, sir.
00:23And we were doing some shots of J-Mo in the casino.
00:25I remember.
00:26Do you?
00:27Because I don't remember a lot of that.
00:28It's blurry, but I remember.
00:30You guys killed it.
00:31You guys did a cool club gig on the boat and then you followed it up with the big jam out
00:36on the main stage.
00:37That was great, man.
00:38What's it like when you're on something where you can't necessarily get away from the people?
00:43It's cool to be with everybody on the boat like that, but it's like they're everywhere.
00:47It can be a little isolating because part of your life is like that anyways.
00:51Yeah.
00:52If you're kind of performing and doing what a lot of us cats here are doing at this level,
00:56it's already a little isolating anyways, but then you kind of concentrate it.
01:00And then either you're going to give in and do what I did, which is hang with everybody
01:03and have a good time, or you're just going to sit in your room and not.
01:06So, I don't know.
01:07It's a catch-win too.
01:08I love it.
01:09I'm an extrovert though, so I'll be out there kicking it.
01:11It was like every night at midnight, we know where to find A-Rom.
01:14I was at the bar kicking it.
01:16We were at the casino hanging out.
01:17The bar kicking it.
01:18Yeah, man.
01:19Well, speaking of partying, the last time I saw you was a little over a year ago.
01:23That's right.
01:24We were at a fine establishment, a strip club here in Philadelphia.
01:27We were.
01:28Celebrating the end of the tour that you were on with, I believe it was Ko Wetzel.
01:33And I bring that up not to blow up your spot, but we hung out at that strip club.
01:38We had a great night.
01:39And a few months later you put out a song called Filthy.
01:42I sure did.
01:43Which talks about high heels, lace thongs, all that.
01:46And I was like, damn, should Philly get a writing credit for this?
01:49Like, what's happening here?
01:51It's a great song though.
01:52You know what's funny, that night was definitely something that inspired that.
01:55I think maybe just touring in general, like being this local kid in my hometown
01:59and just sitting on my couch to all of a sudden being number one on the charts
02:02and then touring, I think my life kind of just flipped upside down.
02:05And I experienced a lot of that just in general.
02:08You know, the sex, drugs, and rock and roll was a thing.
02:10And I was actually living it for the first time, you know, too.
02:13So I think that's also where that song came from.
02:15But that night definitely played a little of a role.
02:18Yeah.
02:19You know?
02:20So yeah.
02:21So brand new album, Chronicles the Kid, just dropped, man.
02:24Congratulations.
02:25Excellent record, dude.
02:26Dig it, dig it.
02:27We're playing the latest single from it.
02:28Tell us a little bit more about the record.
02:29Who produced it?
02:30Where'd you record it at and all that stuff?
02:32Yeah.
02:33I recorded it in Nashville with Scott Stevens and Marty Fredrickson,
02:36who are hard hitters in the riding world and rock.
02:39And we sat there.
02:40I mean, honestly, I've been touring now for this.
02:42I'm starting the third year of touring straight.
02:45And in that time, you know, I toured.
02:47I actually would go home for a couple of weeks, but then I'd go straight to Nashville and be there for two or three weeks at a time to finish the record.
02:53So I recorded this, my second major record while touring.
02:56So I sat in a room.
02:57I got to know these guys really well.
02:58They were really welcoming for me to be vulnerable and honest about who I am and being able to put them on the record, you know?
03:04And so it really, like, I don't know, man, it really came to be in kind of magic.
03:09It was magical, really, because, you know, the first song that we worked on together was Mercy.
03:13And that went number one, too.
03:14And now Blood in the Water, you know?
03:15So we found something magical to work in the room with these guys.
03:18And so we decided to put our record together, you know?
03:20Cool.
03:21So the album before this was Child of the State, right?
03:25And then Chronicles of the Kid is the new album.
03:28So, like, even in just the title, there's this shift in maturity.
03:33Do you feel that in the content of the record as well, the music itself?
03:36Certainly.
03:37I mean, that was kind of why I wanted to call it Chronicles of the Kid, you know?
03:40It was like, you know, you're watching me grow up.
03:42I mean, in a sense, you know, in my music.
03:44The first record really was a bunch of songs that I had had with me for a long time.
03:48I had taken, like, half a lows, re-recorded them, and then put them on that new record, you know?
03:51And then recorded a few more new ones and put them on the record.
03:53That's old coming into new.
03:55This was new, new.
03:56This was me, like, right now, as I'm touring, as I see you face to face.
03:59You may be the next subject of my story.
04:00You never know.
04:01I can't wait.
04:02That's also going to go to number one.
04:03You know what I'm saying?
04:04So it's like, you know, I was living it.
04:07I was living this record.
04:08That's why I called it Chronicles of the Kid.
04:09It was happening right now.
04:10So as I'm growing, as a musician, as an artist, you know, that's why we added that stadium sound
04:13in the record, the arena sounds, because that's what my life has turned into.
04:16You know, playing pavilions, arenas, opening for these big acts.
04:18You know, that's what it was.
04:19Do you write a lot on the road?
04:20Because we've both heard different things from different artists,
04:23where some people get a little too overstimulated when they're touring
04:26and they don't want to write.
04:27They kind of need to be in this isolation tank to write well, quote-unquote.
04:32And some people really thrive on that and write a lot on the road.
04:34Which one are you?
04:35I'm too ADD to do on the road.
04:37So I have to be, like, in an environment where I can sit and focus on the music.
04:40But I'm always writing ideas, though.
04:42I always have ideas that I'm putting in my pocket on my phone or whatever,
04:45on my voice memo, and I'm always taking those into the studio
04:47to hopefully turn them into songs, you know?
04:49Nice. You get the inspiration on the road and then you go write it down.
04:51Are you one that wakes up in the middle of the night
04:53and if something's, like, in a dream or something you come think of,
04:56you fly to bed real quick or either jot it down or do the noodle or whatever?
04:59If I'm in that mode, that's the thing about it.
05:01So, like, when you're in the writing mode, that happens to people all the time,
05:03that inspiration, you know?
05:04When you're in the writing mode, though, you're going to take your body and actually do that.
05:07But if I'm just, like, tired and it's, like, 4 o'clock in the morning
05:10and I'm in my hotel room on tour, I'm like, psh, whatever.
05:12That was a dope idea.
05:13Hopefully he'll come back at some point.
05:14I'm going to stay right here in this bed, though, you know?
05:16So, yeah, no, I've had those moments, though.
05:18I've woken up and, like, had new songs written out, basically,
05:20and just put them down, you know?
05:21Love it.
05:22Again, that new album is called Chronicles of the Kid.
05:24It's out now.
05:25I want to pivot real quick.
05:26We've got Bob over here who is from this area.
05:29Yes, you in the hat.
05:31Come over here because I have a present for you.
05:33Bob and I have been going back and forth on Instagram about his love of Wawa.
05:38I love Wawa.
05:39I love Wawa.
05:40Say it into the mic.
05:41Declare your love for Wawa right now.
05:43Wawa is the ultimate end of everything we've tried as humans in civilization.
05:49And Bob told me that he will never let you guys, while you're on tour, drive past a Wawa,
05:55so I made sure that I brought some pretzels for everybody.
05:59Wawa.
06:00Only because I couldn't carry a full box of hoagies.
06:02But, Bob, I knew you would freak out.
06:04And, Aaron, if you haven't tried it yet, you've got to.
06:06Of course I've tried Wawa.
06:07This guy over here, man.
06:08There's nothing better than a Philadelphia pretzel.
06:12You can't get one anywhere else in the world.
06:15It doesn't matter.
06:16It doesn't matter.
06:17There's nothing better than a Philadelphia pretzel.
06:20You heard it right here.
06:22So, Aaron, you guys are going to be opening for GNR in Seattle and hometown, man.
06:26That's going to be pretty cool.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Yeah, man.
06:29That's coming up pretty soon here.
06:30Are you doing more than a couple of dates with them?
06:31I think I'm just doing the one so far and we'll see what happens.
06:33We basically do that show and then the next day I fly out to France to do some shows in Paris.
06:37Anybody, like, on the bucket list that you would like to share a stage with that you haven't just yet?
06:42Rage Against the Machine, I think, is my bucket list.
06:44Yeah.
06:45Ooh, that's good.
06:46Ooh.
06:47I saw Rage at Madison Square Garden last year when they were doing that five-show run up there.
06:50Oh, man.
06:51And with Zack De La Roca with the torn Achilles down to, like, I think they said 2% attached or something like that.
06:56He still had more energy in his pinky than most lead singers do, man.
06:59I love that, too.
07:00He was killer.
07:01I could totally see you guys with that.
07:02That would be awesome.
07:03That would be awesome.
07:04Dude, Hometown with Guns N' Roses.
07:07I mean, were you a Guns N' Roses fan back in the day, too?
07:10Yeah, you know, I've definitely grown up with Guns N' Roses.
07:12I'm a bit of a fan of their music as well, but I grew up with them.
07:15I mean, you know, it's weird.
07:17You get older and you find out you know all these old songs and you're like, why did I know that?
07:21You know, it's because you lived through it.
07:23So, yeah.
07:24And this is actually our second time working with them.
07:26We opened for them at the Gorge years ago.
07:28Oh, nice.
07:29Nice.
07:30And so, you know, I've maintained a relationship with Duff McKagan for a number of years.
07:33I've hung out with him in Paris and backstage at some huge shows and did some cool stuff
07:37and Slash and all that.
07:39But yeah, more than anything, it's a special day for us because, you know, this is the first
07:44time we'll actually really be featured on the bill as the support act.
07:48But more than anything, I think it's just a cool moment for my town, the town that I come
07:51from, you know, because I've been gone now for almost three years and for them to see the
07:56the kid that they brought up, you know, I think it's going to be a big deal.
07:59Killer.
08:00Have you played on a stadium stage yet?
08:03Forgive me for not knowing, but have you done a gig that big yet?
08:06Yeah, we opened for Rolling Stones at Fort Field and then again in Paris at the Champlain,
08:12which is a massive thing.
08:14So you know that those stages are like two miles long.
08:18They're absolutely.
08:19How do you navigate a stage that big?
08:20We just saw Metallica a couple of weeks ago up at MetLife.
08:23And it's like it takes several minutes just to get from one side of the stage to the other.
08:27That's got to be strange.
08:28It does, man.
08:29It is strange.
08:30And you have to kind of figure it out.
08:31That's one of those things, though.
08:32It's like as you level up as an artist, as a musician or whatever, you're going to get
08:35these bigger stages.
08:36You have to find out how to make those stages big with you, you know.
08:38So, you know, we got a little experience, though.
08:40So we should be all right.
08:42But definitely it's always something I think about, too.
08:44It's always how big the stage is, you know.
08:46We know you guys are going to be hitting the stage here shortly.
08:48I got to tell you, the first time I saw you was opening for Shinedown, which was September
08:5311th, two years ago, when you did a ripping rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
08:58I don't know if there was a dry eye in the house.
09:00I had goosebumps from head to toe, man.
09:02And as I was going up to do the stage intro for Shinedown, we kind of fist bumped each other
09:06as you were walking off the stage there.
09:08And I got to tell you, man, that's something that still resonates with me to this day.
09:11Man, you know, that's special for me.
09:14And thank you for sharing that.
09:16I've always tried to keep that in my pocket, you know, especially because I think as an
09:21African-American in rock, I kind of bridge the gap of cultures, so to speak.
09:26And so it's one of those things that despite the controversy around the lyrics or whatever
09:32at the anthem, it's ours together.
09:34And so to be able to share that with people, especially people that wouldn't normally expect
09:38that to happen, it means the world to me.
09:40Because after I've traveled now and I spent a lot of time just talking to Dirty Honey backstage
09:44and, you know, they travel quite a bit too to Europe, you know, and you spend four weeks,
09:48eight weeks, 12 weeks there, and then you really kind of get sick of it because it's
09:52not where you're from.
09:53And you don't really know how special this place is until you leave and you come back.
09:57And after spending a lot of time in Europe, I've learned what makes us so special in this
10:02country is our camaraderie, despite our differences.
10:05Yeah.
10:06And so, for me, the national anthem is also, while it can spark a conversation as to how
10:10we make things better for us, we always have to keep in mind that it's ours together.
10:15And that is our camaraderie right there, you know?
10:17So, yeah.
10:18That's beautiful.
10:19I think Aaron's got a show to get ready for.
10:21I know, me too.
10:22I could talk to you all day.
10:23That's for sure.
10:24It's so great to have you back in Philadelphia.
10:25But we know you've got to get ready for your MMORBQ set.
10:27That's right.
10:28And thank you so much for taking time to speak with us.
10:29We can't wait for you to rock the stage here.
10:31Congrats on the new record, ladies and gentlemen, Aaron Jones.
10:34Right on, man.
10:35Amen. Thank you, guys.